News & Insights

The Becht Blog

In this section of the site contributing authors submit interesting articles relating
to the various services, industries and research & development efforts of Becht.

News & Blog

Bad Actors Elimination Program Works…Inspectioneering Journal

Rick Hoffman, Director Mechanical Integrity for Becht, was published in the July/August 2017 edition of the Inspectioneering Journal.  Rick’s two blogs concerning Making Bad Actor Elimination Programs Work and Reliability Beliefs – Driving Organizational Accountability (both on this website) were combined into a single, free-standing article. You may view a pdf of the Inspectioneering Journal by clicking HERE. Rick Hoffman joined […]

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Reliability Beliefs – Driving Organizational Accountability

This is the second in a series of Blogs on improving plant reliability performance through improvement in culture, programs and equipment design, maintenance and operation.  This Blog focuses on Reliability Beliefs – a key element in organizational accountability for everyone to do the right thing every time.  Read the first blog in the series – […]

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Elements of a Super Heavy Lift Execution Manual

Making A Super Heavy Lift?  Here’s What You Need To Know If you are making a single super lift or a series of super lifts there will be a tremendous number of documents created during the planning stages.  In addition to the original documents there will be numerous revisions as the fine tuning of the […]

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The Meaning of the Class 1 Nuclear Piping Equations in NB-3650

Below we review the meaning of the six Class 1 piping stress equations in ASME III NB-3650, Class 1. The nomenclature is found in NB-3650. Two things must be kept in mind when applying these Class 1 piping equations: All the stresses are elastically calculated, i.e. the calculation model considers the material to be such […]

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Evolution of Pipe Stress Equations in the ASME Nuclear Codes (and where we are today)

The Pre-1955 Era Until 1955, the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Codes, and the ASME B31 Pressure Piping code provided rules of good design practice with quantitative criteria for pressure design.  For example, quoting from ASME VIII Rules for the Construction of Unfired Pressure Vessels Section VIII A. S. M. E. Boiler Construction Code, 1927: […]

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Improvements and Upcoming Updates to BechtFFS Software

Below is a listing of recent enhancements to the BechtFFS software, designed to improve the software’s capabilities as well as user experience. In the brittle fracture module, for B31.3 process piping, the user has the option of using the stress basis (Eqn 3.3 in API 579-1/ASME FFS-1) for the longitudinal stresses. Implemented MAWP and minimum […]

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Capacity Reduction of a Compression Member with an Initial Deformation

A recent review of equipment installed in a power plant found a piping strut that was visibly bent. Would the bend in the strut reduce its load bearing capacity as a compression member? The answer is YES!  The load bearing capacity of a bent strut against buckling is reduced. The reduction in buckling capacity is […]

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Process Safety Management and YOU

Walking the Walk…Management Commitment My assumption is if you are reading this, you have some involvement in, or responsibility for, Process Safety Management (PSM) in your facility.  OSHA’s Standard for Hazardous Materials, 29 CFR 1910.119, is a mere 21 pages long including 12 pages of “non-mandatory” appendices — but should it be your responsibility, what […]

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Making Bad Actor Elimination Programs Work

This is the first in a series of Blogs on improving plant reliability programs through improvements in culture, programs and equipment performance.  This Blog focuses on Bad Actor Elimination. The second part in this series is titled Reliability Beliefs – Driving Organizational Accountability (click) Most plants have many pieces of equipment that are chronic problems.  […]

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Due Diligence – Front End Loading for Plant Acquisitions

In many cases operating companies and financial institutions utilize Due Diligence studies for critical input on “Go/No Go” decisions for plant acquisitions.  Once the decision is made to purchase the plant, the Due Diligence study is often put on the shelf.  The company purchasing the new asset then faces significant challenges integrating the asset into […]

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